Does anyone have experience putting on sewup tires (without the glue)?

I'm trying to fit my NOS sewup tires to my wheel set, and the tires appear to be too small. I pulled as hard as I could with my fingers, but it doesn't look close.

Any suggestions?



This is for one of my Rockford bikes, so naturally I would be pretty bummed if I wasn't able to bring it because the tires didn't fit. Thanks!

1 1/8 inch tire on a 1 3/8 rim perhaps?

Are those Nisi sewups rims?

I'd take it to a bike shop that does road cycling stuff - they do a lot of sew ups.

PS: - awesome wheels - what are they going on?

Are those Panaracers?

Yes, they are NOS NISI rims. The tires are Snakebelly's. The spokes are the titanium ones I diamond-polished by hand. The hubs are mag/ti's.

If I can get the tires on, the wheels will be on my LiL Holeshot.

I have 1 nos Comp IV tire, and when layed flat next to the Snakebelly, the length of the Comp is slightly longer. Did sewups come in different sizes?

John...take it to a road bike shop.

I tried like HE|| to get my tires on (without glue) and I just couldn't do it. I took it to a local roadie place and they did it. They said it took three guys to do it. LOL

Whew! Exactly what I wanted t hear, Tom. I was worried that it wasn't meant to be. I'll take them somewhere. Thanks Andy & Tom!

When I tried to fit my tires, they looked EXACTLY like the picture you posted above.

My wife was watching me break out in a sweat trying to get it on the rim and she finally said, "Ummm, I don't think that tires fits."

I remember saying, "The he|| it doesn't!" Ha ha

I took it in the next day (sore arms and all)

yep - a real trap for sew-up newbies!

Almost as good as watching your mate try and fit a 1 1/8 tyre to a 1 3/8 rim though - lol

What size is the Comp IV - 1 1/8?

Size? It's a sewup also. Do sewups come in "sizes"?

streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeach it baby I have put a set on my self and it is hell.... make sure your rim is a 19" a 20x1 is larger

um... I've never seen a Comp IV sew-up tyre - hence I thought it was 1 1/8.... got a pic?

And er, that tyre really dos not look like a Snakebelly to me....

[ June 05, 2007, 02:59 AM: Message edited by: AndyDiamond ]

The Cycle Pro Snakebelly sew ups have a comp looking tread on them. I hope you get them on John. I'm starting to feel bad!

Yeah I would take it in. You almost have to have a metal tire lever to get those on. And if you even did get ONE bead on, you still have to fight the other as well. And once thats done you need to pray that you didnt pinch the tube.

"um... I've never seen a Comp IV sew-up tyre"

Yes, I have one, and it's NOS also. Unfortunately, I only have 1 and not 2.

I have 3 NOS matching Snakebelly sewups. Manyaxes is correct, they have a comp-looking tread to them, except with fewer facets to the knobbies.

I will post a pic of the Comp IV shortly...

mmmmmmm, Comp sew-ups!

Cool man - looking forward to seeing the pics!

Yup, it took 3 guys to get them on. They said they have no idea how anyone would have been able to install them with glue BITD.



Here's the Comp IV also...

Let's try that copy/paste again...

Ok - now I get it - those are Snakebelly III - the Greg Hill models.

Comp V - (not aComp IV).
Wow - never ever seen one of those before!

Yup, you are correct. My mistake. Comp V

I've never been a big fan of Snakebelly's, but I really like the diamond pattern throughout the sidewall. Excellent detail item from the mfr.

Like that Browning 2-speed on my DY, sometimes you really gotta get your eyes down close to these parts to really appreciate the fine details.

I put a set of NOS panaracers on my hard anno NISI's I got them on without glue but I had blisters by the time I was done took about a hour and a half to get them on there and lotsa sweat and cursing but I finally sweet talked them into getting on there..

Speaking from very recent experience...yes...they will fit but I would definitely take them to a local shop and let them suffer through it. The guy that built the wheels for my JMC Mini also installed the tires (Panaracers) by himself. He is a machine!

Those Snakebellys are very different from the Snakebelly sew-ups I remember from the 80-81 era. They had the same Snakebelly tread that everyone probably remembers but just a sew-up tire. Those must be a later version or do you have any advertisement/catalog to identify when they were first available?

Since I got you those tires from my local shop, you could have asked directly. Last thing I'm going to do, is to lead someone wrong.

Sew ups are not for average person. They take a great deal and expertise in not only mounting them but also in the caring and repairing of these monsters.

They are designed to be tight because they are just glued on. As someone who has used tubulars (sew-ups) for years, I can tell you that there is no worse feeling than having a tire roll off the rim at speed (it happened to me during a race once on a borrowed wheel)

If it took your local bike shop 3 people to mount them, then I suggest you hit up a more road racing oriented shop or a little more experienced.

Rather than go into a long step-by-step on how to do it correctly, here's a link on how to do it correctly . It's a web page from my old friend and master mechanic Jim Langley

I will say that the key word in mounting tubulars is pre-stretching.

[ June 06, 2007, 02:54 PM: Message edited by: Reilley1 ]

Alan, I do not know the era. Perhaps Reilley can shed some light since he facilitated my matched set.

Reilley, I knew that those came from a local shop and not your personal collection, so it would not have been proper for me to assume that you would be so knowledgeable with installation. But that's a very helpful link.

Those Snakebelleys, as I said, were Greg Hill Signature models. When GHP did the hook up with Cycle Pro in 84 Cycle Pro released the 'Sankebelly III' as the Greg Hill Signature model in the standard 20" sizes. GHP complete bikes came with the tyres. The GHP/Cycle Pro deal did not last for very long. I suspect those sew ups came out around 85 (sans Greg Hill signature).

From the tests I've seen the Snakebelly III came out with flying colours.
You can find the 20" ones still but mainly in red or yellow and 2.125.
It would be cool to find a set in black in 1.75.

[ June 06, 2007, 06:25 PM: Message edited by: AndyDiamond ]

Here's a set of Panaracers I stupidly sold.

I thought they looked too cracked to be mounted.
However, they guy who bough them said they mounted fine and his kid went racing on them...

Nice. I would have preferred those Panaracers. The holy grail for my build would be Clements. But vintage sewups are hard to find, especially NOS. I'm indebted to Reilley for the matched set I have.

bitd when I worked in a bikeshop , whenever someone would come in with a sew up tire to be mounted we took their phone number & said we will call you in a day or 2 so you can pick them up , 99% of the customers were always happy with that arrangement as they knew that they had bitten off more than they could chew.

Soon as they left , I'd call up the owner of the 3 bike store chain & ask him to drop by & pick up the single tires & rims to mounted on his way home.
The guys at the other store were set up to do all the messy muscle work & the wheel/s would be back at the shop in a day or 2 & I'd make the call for the customer to pick them up , sometimes I'd put a bit of dry kwik grip glue on the back of my hands/fingers to make it look authentic when I handed the cleaned up slick looking wheels with the rubber perfectly laid onto them back to the customer & rung up the sale. Singles were easy to fit when I was 14 , I must have fitted at least a dozen onto various sized rims back then...

No matter what the size , running sewup singles + the rims , hubs & spokes they had to have in order to make them "weightless" , was a _very_ expensive habit to have back then...."a gram in the wheels is worth an ounce/pound in the frame" & all that lightweight wheel racing mentality...

As someone else recommended , if they are going to have any weight put onto sewup or single tires take them to a _proper_ bike shop that _specializes_ in road racing , look for shaved legs on grown men to confirm it , fitting them onto a rim properly so that they run straight & stay on is an art acquired over time.

JB

Ah - Nisi and Cleets - the logical combo.

Now, what was the the sew-up tyre that had the littel 'V' s in the tread?

Clement's

Right!

They are the ones all the kids had at my club BITD!

hey andy, these tyres look familiar??



my 4 yr old daughter loves doing biiiiigggggggg skids with em too

[ June 07, 2007, 03:37 AM: Message edited by: Dirtboy ]

Clements are the best!

Weren't they called "Grippo" or "Grifo"?

I never had the brakes sorted that well for big skids dirtboy, but the boy did like that bike.... hehe

thanks Andy!

hee hee - they look good - lol

Grifo

Did you ever find a set? I thought I remembered seeing a wanted post from you about those. Was that for your LHS, or do you have another mini in the works?

I would have put them on my holeshot...but I never found any. I do have some NOS NISI hoops that I need tires for (eventually), but I'm not sure what type of bike it will be.

But yes, I'd love to build another mini. Someday. Actually, I'd rather do a "junior/mini" but from the late 70's. maybe 1978-ish.

Anyone got a frameset?

I like the mini Ripper, but that's more like 1980/81 probably.

Take a look at my other bike at the show. If you like it, my source (you know who) had another frameset in white...but that's from 1984.

I have a Mini Ripper looptail with LG lites but I'm going to build it.
Most likely with 1 1/8 wheels - lol

I'm going to put 1 1/8's on my mini build as well. A lot less hassle then the sew ups, although, like the cool look of sewups. The Araya Aero ones especially

I agree. I had a set of 1-1/8 rims and tires set aside as a backup plan. But there is something to say about the increased difficulty of sewups. I am glad I went through the process, and I admire the results more now that I know what goes into them.

What year(s) are those 4 Mini Sting's that are on eBay. I'm not a Schwinn guy, but they look like they would make a very cool build.

I laced my tubular wheelset (Araya Aeros) Sunday and was ready to mount my Panaracer Conquer sew-ups.

Heeding the advice on this thread, I stopped off at a local roady bike shop tonight (the Tuesday before Rockford). They refused to mount my tires... "for liability reasons." [They no longer even touch sew-ups at all]. Even after telling them it was for a show bike and didn't need glue, they still wouldn't do it. Said it wasn't that big of a deal anyway (just need strong thumbs and to stretch them with my feet) and "good luck." I raced over to another shop but they close early on Tuesday and Wednesday...

Now what am I to do?????!!!!!

I guess I have to try it myself (like the bike shop guy said)... Time for mind over matter.

My next post will either be: "Hey I got them on!"; or... hmmm, well, let's not go there yet.

Here's a trick you can try. Take the tires and put them in hot water for about 10 min. It will loosen the leather up so that they streeeetch to fir the rims.

NO SWEAT!!

Okay, actually there was sweat... but tires are on! or, excuse me "Hey I got them on!"

I actually got them on before I had a chance to try teacher's warm water trick.

I was all set to look for another shop during lunch today... then this morning, before work, I decided to just try what the bike shop guy suggested... and it worked!

Lesson Learned: It's all in the pre-stretching!

1. Last week I inflated the sew-ups... just to get the rubber stretching out a bit.

2. This morning I used a foot to hold the tire then pulled back with both hands to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the tires. I slowly "walked around" the tire inch by inch one full revolution pulling the same way. (This is where the sweat comes in.)

3. I set the rim vertically on a rug; inserted the valve into the hole (on top); then pushed down on the tire seating and stretching it around and onto the rim until I got near the bottom (at the floor); I then used my thumbs to push the last bit over onto the rim. Piece of cake... well, almost.

4. I inflated them a little (20lbs) and centered the tire on the rim. Deflated, then did a full inflation. (Perhaps this is not necessary just an tip my dad taught me as a kid to do with clinchers to prevent pinching.)

5. Tires on. Wheels done. Hurray! Both wheels done in less than 20-minutes.



To be honest, I've actually had more difficulty with certain MTB tires... at least these sew-ups stretch... whereas some tires don't. This 3-people thing is kind of a mystery to me.

Now my only concern is since I did not use glue, I wonder if I should at least use some sew-up tape: A) just in case someone takes off on the bike... if by slight chance this does happen, the rims will be @#$%ed. and B) it just ensures they won't roll off during transport, etc.

OK. Now, by biggest question remaining is: What's the proper inflation? There are no marking on the tire. [???] (Right now I have them at 80lbs.) What's everybody else running?

Ron

Mine's for show only, so just enough air to give them the correct shape.

Hope to see your mini at the show, Ron.

Congrats on getting them on. If you fill them to about 70lbs you will be safe. You can go up to 100lbs for racing. With out putting the glue on them you take the chance of them moving on the rim. If this happens it will scheer off the valve stem. Solution- DON"T let anyone over 50lbs get on the bike. Other than that you should be OK. Please note: the tire will roll off the rim if anyone tries to turn the bike while riding on the street. The rim at this time usually gets pretty chewed up. All this info comes from first hand experience. LOL And a little Crying involved.

Now you've got me nervous about shearing off the valve stems...

Show bike or not, I like the idea of a little light riding, if not just around the block once in a while. These unglued sew-ups would prevent that... or perhaps thats a good thing. :-] At the same time, loose tires are not a risk I want to take, especially with a son in the house.

What about the newer sew-up tapes as an alternative to glue? Would they have more longevity? I heard the glue ages poorly and needs to be scrapped/chiseled off every so often... There's several brands of tape out there; so, it must work... right?

well, they look great!

Can't wait to see the finished product.